I know what it’s like to go to a tiny private school for nine years. Private school, a wonderful yet terrible experience. Ever since kindergarten up until 8th grade I have gone to Ventura County Christian school, a K-12 school with about 60 kids overall. It’s quite an experience going to a new school now where the cross country team is bigger than your whole school. Some may think that having four other students graduate with you from middle school is crazy, but for me that’s what I know as normal. VCCS may have its advantages and disadvantages but overall it was a good experience…..for the most part.
I vaguely remember my first day of kindergarten there. I remember walking down our front walkway with my polo shirt and my beige shorts, carrying my orange backpack on my back. I may have been nervous that day as we pulled up to school but really, how nervous can a six year old get? I remember my mom walking me through the black gate, up the red stairs into a room that would be my classroom for the next year and a room that would be remembered as one of my favorite places as a kid. As other kids walked into the classroom, they would become my nine other classmates. And the teacher who would be remembered as one of my favorite teachers ever, Mrs. Foster. Later on I would become close friends with two boys, Kevin and Luke, two friends who I still know to this day. Private school is the best thing ever in elementary. All through elementary I loved the school and I thought that I would never want to leave. Little did I know that that idea would change. In elementary everything is absolutely fun and easy. We got many opportunities that lots of other kids didn’t get. You get to know pretty much everybody in the whole school, we got to go on many fun field trips that not many others get to do, and you get a learning experience like no other. I soared through second and third grade, advanced in math with a teacher who always told us to pick our nose when we’re done with work. Fourth and fifth grade get a bit tougher and the teacher gets a bit more strict. Then comes fifth grade graduation, the big day where you write your big speech and prepare to go to what some may call hell on earth. You think everything will be peachy and fine just like elementary, but no. Fifth grade was little preparation for the torture to come. Middle school is hell. I don’t know if it’s only private school or public school also, but private school is not a place you want to be for middle school. The teachers and other kids all seem just so amazing at first…..until you reach around second quarter. It’s just that age where…..things happen and you’re not yourself. Oh and not to mention being stuck all day with 10 other boys going through the same thing. And then what’s next, the five girls in middle school aren’t attractive enough to even distract you from the chaos all around. Fortunately the only homework we really get are current event reports and other random book reports and science projects, unlike high school where you get homework every day for things that seem like pointless, repetitive work. That being said, if I ever have a kid, I will never put him or her in a private school for middle school. Coming to Foothill Tech now is a new and a great experience. As I said before, it feels odd going to a school where the cross country team is bigger than the school you've gone to for 9 years. It's weird having a different teacher for every one of your classes. Back in private school we would have a home room teacher who would teach three to four of our seven classes which we have no choice in. In all three years of middle school we would have to take seven classes: Bible, history, science, English, math, art and physical education. We didn't even have the choice and opportunity to choose at least one class we want to take like we can here at Foothill. One of my favorite things about leaving a tiny school and coming to a bigger school is sports. I am very much into athletics and it is such a great opportunity to be able to run cross country and track for my school. Not only is the sport fun but the people are awesome too. That brings up my next point: people. I have made so many friends here that I never thought I would have. Coming to a much bigger school now gives me the opportunity to get to know so many more people. It's also very different walking by people at your school who you don't even know or recognize. In private school you know everybody in the school, first and last name and you can be sure they know who you are. Well, to conclude this essay on my thoughts on private school, I can say that I would much rather go to public school, especially in middle school and high school. So far, Foothill has been a much better experience than VCCS, and I am so glad that I was able to come here. Although I wish I hadn’t gone to private school for nine years, it was a good experience and a good learning process as well. From this experience, I had the opportunity to learn the pros and cons of private school, and the difference experiences at different schools. In the end, I’m glad to say that I was able to endure private school while it lasted and I’m glad to be going to a great school now.
I know what it’s like to go to a tiny private school for nine years. Private school, a wonderful yet terrible experience. Ever since kindergarten up until 8th grade I have gone to Ventura County Christian school, a K-12 school with about 60 kids overall. It’s quite an experience going to a new school now where the cross country team is bigger than your whole school. Some may think that having four other students graduate with you from middle school is crazy, but for me that’s what I know as normal. VCCS may have its advantages and disadvantages but overall it was a good experience…..for the most part.
I vaguely remember my first day of kindergarten there. I remember walking down our front walkway with my polo shirt and my beige shorts, carrying my orange backpack on my back. I may have been nervous that day as we pulled up to school but really, how nervous can a six year old get? I remember my mom walking me through the black gate, up the red stairs into a room that would be my classroom for the next year and a room that would be remembered as one of my favorite places as a kid. As other kids walked into the classroom, they would become my nine other classmates. And the teacher who would be remembered as one of my favorite teachers ever, Mrs. Foster. Later on I would become close friends with two boys, Kevin and Luke, two friends who I still know to this day.
Private school is the best thing ever in elementary. All through elementary I loved the school and I thought that I would never want to leave. Little did I know that that idea would change. In elementary everything is absolutely fun and easy. We got many opportunities that lots of other kids didn’t get. You get to know pretty much everybody in the whole school, we got to go on many fun field trips that not many others get to do, and you get a learning experience like no other. I soared through second and third grade, advanced in math with a teacher who always told us to pick our nose when we’re done with work. Fourth and fifth grade get a bit tougher and the teacher gets a bit more strict. Then comes fifth grade graduation, the big day where you write your big speech and prepare to go to what some may call hell on earth. You think everything will be peachy and fine just like elementary, but no. Fifth grade was little preparation for the torture to come.
Middle school is hell. I don’t know if it’s only private school or public school also, but private school is not a place you want to be for middle school. The teachers and other kids all seem just so amazing at first…..until you reach around second quarter. It’s just that age where…..things happen and you’re not yourself. Oh and not to mention being stuck all day with 10 other boys going through the same thing. And then what’s next, the five girls in middle school aren’t attractive enough to even distract you from the chaos all around. Fortunately the only homework we really get are current event reports and other random book reports and science projects, unlike high school where you get homework every day for things that seem like pointless, repetitive work. That being said, if I ever have a kid, I will never put him or her in a private school for middle school.
Coming to Foothill Tech now is a new and a great experience. As I said before, it feels odd going to a school where the cross country team is bigger than the school you've gone to for 9 years. It's weird having a different teacher for every one of your classes. Back in private school we would have a home room teacher who would teach three to four of our seven classes which we have no choice in. In all three years of middle school we would have to take seven classes: Bible, history, science, English, math, art and physical education. We didn't even have the choice and opportunity to choose at least one class we want to take like we can here at Foothill. One of my favorite things about leaving a tiny school and coming to a bigger school is sports. I am very much into athletics and it is such a great opportunity to be able to run cross country and track for my school. Not only is the sport fun but the people are awesome too. That brings up my next point: people. I have made so many friends here that I never thought I would have. Coming to a much bigger school now gives me the opportunity to get to know so many more people. It's also very different walking by people at your school who you don't even know or recognize. In private school you know everybody in the school, first and last name and you can be sure they know who you are.
Well, to conclude this essay on my thoughts on private school, I can say that I would much rather go to public school, especially in middle school and high school. So far, Foothill has been a much better experience than VCCS, and I am so glad that I was able to come here. Although I wish I hadn’t gone to private school for nine years, it was a good experience and a good learning process as well. From this experience, I had the opportunity to learn the pros and cons of private school, and the difference experiences at different schools. In the end, I’m glad to say that I was able to endure private school while it lasted and I’m glad to be going to a great school now.